AbaQulusi appoints new municipal manager
At the age of 19 years old, he joined KwaZulu SAPS as a policeman and proceeded to climb the ranks from constable to warrant officer
Zwelihle Godfrey Dhlamini began his duties as the new AbaQulusi municipal manager on Tuesday last week.
Dhlamini, who was previously director of Corporate Services and acting municipal manager of Ulundi Local Municipality, was born in Soweto and attended Vusisizwe Primary School before moving to Newcastle where his mother hails from. From there, he relocated to KwaMaphumulo. He proudly says that he ‘moved very fast’ in his classes and only did 10 years of schooling. He further explains that he came from a poor background and could not further his studies after matric. Upon matriculating, he went back to Johannesburg to find ‘piece jobs’ until he moved to Ulundi.
At the age of 19 years old, he joined KwaZulu SAPS as a policeman and proceeded to climb the ranks from constable to warrant officer. Dhlamini also started a union while in the police force, called the National Police Service Union, where he negotiated at national level as the secretary general. He spent 14 years in the police force.
‘’While in the SAPS, I started to study Police Science. However, because of the workload, I did not finish my degree. From there, I went to study at the University of Johannesburg, where I did my Diploma in Law, which was part-time. In the year 2000, I joined politics again and became a councillor.’’ Dhlamini also became a member of the executive council for five years and from there, he was shifted to administration to become a deputy director. Then it was studying again, this time in Sweden, where he did a Diploma in Local Government. Subsequently, he served in Ulundi as director of Corporate Services for 10 years.
‘’I was in Ulundi for a long time and learnt a lot there. However, I wanted to venture out; one could say spread my wings and see what else I could do with the experience I have. That’s when the opportunity here in Vryheid presented itself. I applied and the process unfolded until I was appointed.’’
When the immediate problems of the town were highlighted to the newly-appointed municipal manager, he said, ‘’People forget about politics when they want their basic needs – potholes, water and electricity knows no politics. I can confidently say we are going to deal with the two streets that are here in town (Mark and President Street). You will see equipment rolling soon. Water and electricity go hand-in-hand and I understand there is a backlog in electrification, especially in rural areas. Those are the serious issues we will have to look closely at, as well as the scarcity and cleanliness of water.’’
In his welcoming message, Mayor Maphisa said, “It is with great excitement to announce and welcome the appointment of our municipal manager, Mr Dhlamini. He comes with vast knowledge and experience in local government leadership. He is already hitting the ground running to ensure that he steers this train on the right track and is expected to elevate the performance of our municipality. We know and believe that he is capable and will deliver on the mandate of the municipality.”
“I am very honoured to have been afforded this opportunity and I will be doing my level best to ensure that I deliver on the mandate of the municipality. As the honourable mayor has indicated, I am hitting the ground running because the municipality has been without a municipal manager since September last year and has been relying on acting municipal managers until now.
“This means a lot needs to be done. I will be meeting with all senior management so they can give me the status of their departments. I will also meet with middle and lower management so I have a clear picture of where we need to make improvements or which strategies are working. The aim is to make AbaQulusi one of the best performing municipalities in the Zululand district.”
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